Performance & Sustainability
A project home from the 1970s with poor solar orientation is reconfigured and realigned. Now it catches the sun for energy efficiency.
A bayside extension clad inside and out in timber battens blurs the functional and decorative.
Aireys Inlet House -- like all good second homes -- creates connection to nature in contrast to the clients' busy city lives.
A local shed company prefabricated this home, saving both time and cost. But Whyatt House doesn't look like a typical shed…
Ilma Grove is an extension to a heritage home in Northcote, Victoria. The extension provides more space and guarantees a sustainable lifestyle.
This small house is sustainable, low-maintenance, affordable and it's pre-fab so it arrives (practically) ready to move into.
This new shack takes better advantage of the views and has enough space to host this multi-generational family during the holiday season.
Thanks to the home's unusual form, the garden of Reverse Shadow Casting House will always be sunny and bright.
In an effort to find more space for a growing and ageing family, Andrew Maynard Architects created a home that has shared space and more private zones.
You can't see the sea from this modern beach house. Undeterred by the lack of view, it faces a sheltered internal courtyard instead.
A prefab home designed around passive solar design principles is warm, comfortable, energy efficient and looks prefab-ulous.
A modest, energy efficient home in New Zealand's spectacular wine country makes the most of sweeping views…
This passive solar home was designed to maximise available light and space on an oddly shaped block in the inner suburban Melbourne.
Designed in a flood-prone area, this modest, sustainable beach house touches the earth so lightly it appears to float!
Hereston Gardenhouse pops up in a disused back yard and demonstrates a way to make cities more dense and (importantly) sustainable.
ArchiBlox' Carbon Positive Prefab House means it's no longer enough to just be carbon neutral, when you can be carbon positive.
With the help of friends and neighbours this beautifully crafted home was realised on a budget closer to a caravan than a family home.
Tower House's owners and their 8 year old twin sons asked for a home 'for community, art and nature to come together'. They got a village.
Renovating and extending a typical Victorian terrace always poses a unique set of challenges. Hawthorn House exceeds those challenges.
In accordance with a local planning law, Arrowtown House is a series of small buildings similar to the the surrounding historic sheds.
In a quiet corner of Melbourne's Inner-North, Modscape's modular, pre-fabricated and sustainable Tower House stands out from the crowd.
A grassy green courtyard fit for a cow (ok, not a real cow) at the centre of this renovated St Kilda House adds a bright new focus.
Somers Courtyard House is a low maintenance home to accommodate an expanding family with regular guests. The best part? It's completely off-grid!
After stripping back years of unthoughtful additions, Richmond House receives a bright and modern interpretation of a lean-to.
Like a roof on its side, Ashburton House's sawtooth facade is self-shading, blocking summer sun from striking and heating the surface.
House C3 sits comfortably in its neighbourhood of 19th century workers' cottages neither shouting its modernity nor mimicking the neighbours.
Jones House is a home designed for Australian conditions proving architectural ideas can be achieved without big budgets and costly construction methods.
McKenzie House uses the same 4x3 metre grid of the surrounding Apple Orchard to ensure it feels harmonious and connected to its surrounds.
Pekapeka Holiday House explores how to build a holiday house of with strong architectural character at an affordable price.
Embracing the morning sun and bay breezes, Christian Street House is comfortable year-round by making the most of Brisbane's climate.
A Collection of Spaces new spaces arranged around two courtyards revitalises a traditional worker's cottage without compromising its historical significance.
Parents' retreat, teen hideaway, granny flat or rental earner — the function of this self contained extension can change over time.
The prefabricated Collingwood House fits easily into its tight urban site, without feeling squeezed for space.
Set in a lush tropical rainforest, Planchonella House, is a raw and honest home that takes full advantage of its incredible views.
In the inner city it's not always wise to rely on an aspect. In the case of Diagonal House it made sense to embrace a sunny northern aspect.
Befitting a regionally based sculptor, Sawmill House is a hand crafted upgrade from his existing rather rustic bohemian abode.
A new house set in a compact urban site, Woollahra House has a relaxed yet rich garden landscape of indoor and outdoor rooms.
A Miesian inspired glass pavilion in a rural landscape setting not dissimilar to that portrayed in a Claude Monet painting…
Turning this tight inner-city terrace into a light-filled, open-plan home for a family of five was a challenge. But was it a success?
Thanks to an owner with an interest in sustainable building, Mona Vale House incorporates passive and active sustainability features.
Holly Tree Farm replaces a home which was sadly lost in a fire in style — by reusing salvaged materials and mimicking surrounding buildings.
Incorporating the qualities of a traditional farmhouse ensures this modern farmhouse will feel like a home from the get-go.
The compact Highway House takes full advantage of its difficult, but dramatic site — sitting lightly over Hobart and the Derwent River…
A series of separate, disconnected rooms are transformed by a central, open planned living space that maximises north light.
Fairfield Hacienda offers an alternative to the often wasted front yard. MRTN Architects have created a sunny, private courtyard at the front of the house.
Thornbury House might appear haphazardly crooked, but the angled facade doubles as a sunshade. This solar passive home is functional and visually appealing.
Like the slow food movement, Pirates Bay House is a reaction against our hectic lives. It's a home for slow living on Australia's Mornington Peninsula.
At first glance it's a typical Victorian-era worker's cottage. Only on closer inspection you realize there's something unusual going on behind that facade...
Mount Ninderry House is a sustainable house that takes full advantage of its stunning natural setting without the extra cost. And check out that pool!
Snowy Mountains House is designed for living off the grid in style. The home works with nature to resist extreme winds, collect rainwater and shed snow.
Elm and Willow House's walls seem to vanish. The living area is neither indoor, nor outdoor space -- the entire yard becomes a part of the house.
Bridge House takes full advantage of a naturally stunning site, straddling a creek bed and touching the earth lightly environmentally and physically.
The location was right. But it would take a lot of imagination and a leap of faith to transform this dilapidated shed into a home...
Tucked away in a subdivided backyard in Melbourne's Inner North, Nest Architects created a delightfully compact two-bedroom home with a beautiful sunny garden.
The 8.2-Star Energy Rated Leura Lane House is an impressive 2-bedroom prototype for energy efficient housing perfect for rural sites.
Despite only adding six square meters to this home, Welsh and Major's reconfiguration and tiny pavilion have made a dramatic difference.
A sustainable, flexible and contemporary living space grows out of an existing home. It's reverent and cheeky, radical and conservative.
Cranky Corner doesn't sound like the ideal retirement home, but this farmhouse in the Hunter Valley is a comfortable and sustainable place to retire.
Queens Park House designed to create a series of spaces in the old and new house which are flexible over time.
Dramatic topography, bush setting and diverse climatic conditions were the driving forces in this environmentally friendly design.
A tiny barnacle-like extension creates a sense of camping or sleeping in the berth of a yacht, but with framed views of the landscape beyond.
Sean Godsell Architects explore the traditional verandah to create a stunning beach home sheltered from the extremes of coastal life.
An extension made from delicate steel and expansive glass feels like a precious jewel has been hung on the original heritage home.
On an extremely small parcel of land Beach Avenue House is designed more like a finely crafted joinery unit than a typical home.
This superb Mountain Retreat utilises local stone to minimise impact to the external environment, but maximise the internal environment.
Off form concrete draws on the solidity of an original masonry structure whilst introducing a new materiality at this home in Glebe.
A 1960s Architect-designed home undergoes 21st Century transformation into a gracious new house fit for modern living.
Carefully curated views help Neutral Bay House to feel brighter, connect to the garden and defy its tightly confined urban site.
This modern farmhouse in Tonimbuk allows the owner to 'live in the environment' thanks to large glass sliding doors.
Rammed Limestone is the perfect material for Wall and Wall House — locally sourced, beautiful texture and natural colour and high thermal mass.
Even during the heat of summer this passive solar design remained cool and kept the family comfortable. Reclaimed materials integrates with the original.
Old terrace houses are not the most efficient beasts. But this Darlinghurst terrace renovation proves you can have a terrace and aim for sustainability too.
From the outside Hill Plain House has an Australian agricultural feel. Inside, it's another story; dark moody and richly detailed.
Everyone needs a bit of sunshine in their lives. That's why Bow House goes out of its way to let the sunshine in.
When there's snow on the slopes, there's no better place to head after a long day than this finely crafted ski lodge. There's even a Japanese style bath to soak your aching bones.
Talk about a constrained site - this light-filled addition is a small inner city block sandwiched between 14 adjacent properties.
The old house faced the wrong way and missed out on natural light. With the help of a clever skylight, this renovation turns things around…
Seaview House is made up of a series of pavilions, designed to fit in with neighbouring old weatherboard cottages without sacrificing contemporary appeal…
A modern, but sensitively sized addition transforms existing interwar home and saturates it in natural light - in-spite of a tiny site.
Shmukler House by Tribe Studio is conceived as a series of boxes suspended in a large shed-like space.
